Glow in the Dark Sensory Rice

Ever been in one of those situations where you need your kids preoccupied safely so you can work? I have and that is how this fun glow in the dark sensory rice idea was born 😉

So, we have now been here for seven months and I am still unpacking. I don’t think it has ever taken me this long to get my life organized. It has been crazy. With the hubs working long hours during the day we decided to invest in some photography lights so that I could hang out with the kids and work on the house while he was at work and then go to my job at night.

Only thing is…that plan has yet to work. Well, for the most part it works, but there are those nights when Meatball decides he is going to poke his head into the office a million and one times to make sure I am not staying up too late past my bedtime. With this has come a new challenge — get work done or play a game of up and down a million and one times to make sure a Meatball is in his bed.

This glow in the dark sensory rice was my solution. It was fun sensory bin and it got us all to bed a couple hours sooner than the nights when we are up and down non-stop. Plus this rice uses one of my favorite relaxing essential oils. So, not only were we playing in the dark, but we were also playing with scents that help the body relax!

Items Needed for Glow in the Dark Sensory Rice

Directions:

To make this glow in the dark sensory rice we simply re-purposed an older batch of rice that had been dyed with lavender essential oils. After a couple of months it still smelled amazing! Because of that our bin was a lovely shade of blue. Taking that rice we dumped in an entire 2 ounce container of glow in the dark paint and mixed it up super duper good.

And then left it out in front of a window to dry. It took all day and still wasn’t dry. So I threw it under my photography lights and it dried almost instantly.

Once dry it was ready to play! This was so much fun!

**Sorry for the lack of photos. Getting decent photos in the dark was incredibly hard!

EDIT: I have gotten a lot of questions so editing to address them.

1. Does the paint make the rice stick together? YES. While drying the rice shake and break it up. Not only will this prevent it from clumping but it will also help the rice absorb more light making it glow brighter. Once dried the rice will not be sticky nor will it be clumpy.

2. How long will it last? Honestly I have no clue. I think as long as it is kept dry it won’t mold. I have noticed that if the rice doesn’t have enough light during the day to absorb it won’t shine. It needs a lot of light.

3. Would it work with a black light? I think would depend on the paint used. Unfortunately the brand I used did nothing under black light. I did manage to find a paint that works with black light, but it doesn’t glow in the dark. I don’t know if you could mix, that could be a fun experiment. But, for now it looks like it is one or the other.

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